Saturday, January 24, 2009

When I talked to Jake Delhomme this week, he sounded OK. More than that, he sounded determined that those five interceptions against Arizona won't be the final memory Panther fans have of him. I'd put the odds of Delhomme starting Carolina's season opener in September 2009 at 80 percent.

Want an example of a true Blue Devil? Bill Werber died in Charlotte at age 100 this past week.Werber was Duke's first basketball All-American and the oldest living former major leaguer (he once teamed with Babe Ruth). Werber was a fervent Duke basketball fan to the end, but in the final few weeks of his life he was too tired to watch the games on TV.When his children recapped the games for him, he'd nod and then invariably ask: “When's the Carolina game?”

4 comments:

How much of all the coaches leaving and Peppers' desire to leave a reflection on Fox? Is it time for a new regime to see what they can do with the Panthers? I hope Richardson's loyalty to his people won't end up costing this team a chance to win.

Okay, conspiracy theory here -- I only give this about a 10% chance of being true, but just because we have to spend Super Bowl week somehow...

What if coach Fox has made it known to a number of key insiders that the 2009 season will be his last, and that Jeff Davidson will be taking over after that? It would explain a few key things -- Peppers wanting to get out (so he's not tied into a new coach and can pick his new coordinator), the assistants leaving (landing jobs while they're resumes look good, before the big shuffle), and Trgovac remaining as D-coordinator (why bring in a new DC name for 1 year)?

The other suspicion, of course, is that 2010 is the year Bill Cowher has identified as the first time he'd be ready to get back into coaching. The only problem with that is that it doesn't make sense that Davidson would be bringing in a couple of his guys afterwards, but that's not a critical flaw, either.

I always hear that being an NFL head coach is exhausting, and after 8 seasons, Fox may want a break. He looks about 16 years older now than he did when he first showed up in town.

"...I wanted to depart as friends and depart this organization on good terms. I gave everything I had for seven years. ... I can understand how [stepping down from a coordinator to a position job] looks. But things aren't always what they appear, I guess. Sometimes working for a defensive head coach is harder than working for an offensive head coach."

Hi Scott, It was a good season while it lasted. I saw a lot of new fans in our stadium this year. Winning does that, I learned that in all of our years so far. Its the stick N stay fan that we need more of, as we become a veteran crowd. I have made thousands of friends from the thousands I've met. This is a shout out to them with a favor from you to plant in the Panthers head. I think we should go after Gruden for our Defensive Coor. position. before we hire a lesser person if its not too late. Whatcha think?